Director of Safety

Role Overview

Nexus is seeking a hands-on, field-first Director of Safety to own the Company's safety program end-to-end while serving as a trusted partner to the CEO and COO.

This is a builder and standard-setter role. The successful candidate will formalize safety processes, drive EMR/TRIR performance, and position Nexus to win back restricted accounts and pursue new MSAs as the Company scales from roughly 100 to 250+ field employees over the next five years.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with the CEO and COO to build and execute a safety strategy that supports growth, new-customer wins, and geographic expansion.
• Establish daily field safety presence, embed safety coaches in the field, and formalize near-miss reporting that feeds a continuous training loop.
• Own the Operator Qualification (OQ) administration process — ensuring technicians are properly qualified, records are current and audit-ready, and the program supports field career progression.
• Lead PHMSA/OSHA compliance programs, subcontractor safety oversight, and incident investigation / root-cause processes.
• Partner with HR on new-hire safety onboarding, training curriculum, and technician certification pathways — supporting employees as they pursue CP certifications (CP1, CP2, etc.) administered independently by the governing certification board.
• Track safety KPIs — including EMR, TRIR, near-miss trends, and OQ compliance — and present performance at monthly operating reviews and quarterly board meetings.
• Prepare safety documentation and track record to support pursuit of MSAs with previously-restricted operators once eligibility resumes.
• Scale the safety program and staffing model to support expansion into new regions (Georgia, Colorado, and beyond) and a growing crew base.

What We're Looking For

Candidates will be evaluated primarily against the following:

Top Priority

• Field Services / Pipeline Safety Experience — 5–7+ years in field or pipeline safety roles, ideally including corrosion or pipeline integrity safety, with a strong working command of the PHMSA/OSHA requirements that govern this work.
• Houston Presence — Houston-area based (or able to be), with the ability to travel to field sites and HQ regularly; weekly field travel expected.
• Scalability — has built and run a safety program supporting 150–250+ field employees across multiple sites or states.

High Priority

• Leadership and Cultural Fit — comfortable in the field and the boardroom, low ego, leads through change, and can stand up infrastructure as a true business partner to the CEO, Board, and Sponsor.
• EMR / TRIR Track Record — multi-year record of EMR/TRIR improvement, ideally improvement that has directly enabled new MSA or customer wins.

Important

• Multi-Site Field Services Leadership — has been the lead safety person for a growing, multi-site field services company; experience in a PE-backed platform is a plus but not required.
• Certification & OQ Program Development — has led a tiered certification and/or OQ program, ideally across multiple sites or company-wide.

Nice to Have

• Integration / M&A Experience with exposure to safety integration during add-on acquisitions.